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The Comfort of Strangers



Adapting the acclaimed novel by Ian McEwan, playwright and screenwriter Harold Pinter lends his trademark unnerving dialogue and air of creeping menace to this spellbinding study of power, control, and the frighteningly thin line between pleasure and pain. Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson are the prey, a beautiful British couple working on their relationship while on holiday in Venice; Christopher Walken and Helen Mirren are the hunters who draw them into the sinister web of their opulent, old-world palazzo. What plays out is an unsettling, sadomasochistic seduction imbued with an atmosphere of sumptuous dread by the elegantly gliding tracking shots of cinematographer Dante Spinotti, lush score by Angelo Badalamenti, and carefully controlled direction of Paul Schrader, who choreographs a mesmerizing pas de quatre of sustained erotic and emotional tension.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Dante Spinotti, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with Spinotti, director Paul Schrader, actor Christopher Walken, and editor Bill Pankow
• Interviews from 1981 and 2001 with novelist Ian McEwan and actor Natasha Richardson
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Maitland McDonagh

Forrest Taft wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:17 pm Paul Schrader wrote on Facebook that Criterion is working on Comfort of Strangers. May be old news to some, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it.

That’s news to me. If they use anything other than the original Klimt inspired artwork for the cover they’ll be making a huge mistake.

Forrest Taft wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:17 pm Paul Schrader wrote on Facebook that Criterion is working on Comfort of Strangers. May be old news to some, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it.

I hope they double up and put it out with Light Sleeper

I doubt it. It was when someone asked about Light Sleeper that Schrader said they where working on Strangers. I recommend last years Oz release of Light Sleeper, btw. It was great seeing the movie again after all these years, it’s very good.

Light Sleeper is fantastic and is Schrader's best film alongside Mishima and American Gigolo. Might even the best of the bunch. Weird that of all his other films Criterion is going for Strangers. The Canyons needs love!

Presumably they’re working on a fresh scan?

M Sanderson wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:25 am Presumably they’re working on a fresh scan?

I’d guess they’d use the same HD source as BFI’s 2018 release of the film. It’s an excellent release, BTW.

it's acceptable

I'm in the middle of watching this on the Channel and I noticed some anomalies with regards to dialogue and other audio issues, and one weird point where the entire sound and dialogue between two scenes near each other are transposed. It doesn't feel like an issue with the Channel itself but the source, because I wasn't hearing any of the usual distortion or drop-outs that might happen otherwise.

Courtesy of - who else - Schrader himself on Facebook - this will be coming from Criterion, "restored," in August.

Vindication for me guessing this every month this year

I'll be interested to see what kind of supplements they put together. Hoping for something on Harold Pinter

The most important question: Can they top the BFI cover?

I forgot about the BFI version. And no they can't

DeprongMori wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 4:06 pm

M Sanderson wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2020 11:25 am Presumably they’re working on a fresh scan?

I’d guess they’d use the same HD source as BFI’s 2018 release of the film. It’s an excellent release, BTW.

Schrader mentioned on his Facebook that Criterion got the original negative while BFI didn’t, so the restoration will be from a different source, along with participation of Dante Spinotti.

So what's the version on the Criterion Channel I saw?

The Comfort of Beaver (so sorry)

Would The Beaver of Strangers have been better or worse?

therewillbeblus wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 7:55 am Schrader mentioned on his Facebook that Criterion got the original negative while BFI didn’t, so the restoration will be from a different source, along with participation of Dante Spinotti.

Based on the DVD Beaver captures, the difference is quite obvious! The new restoration is more luminous, and the faces stand out. In general the Criterion manages the highlights better.

DarkImbecile wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:17 pm Would The Beaver of Strangers have been better or worse?

The Comfort Beaver Strangers or Beaver Comfort of Strangers would have been the best.

Gary says it's 1.85 when it's 1.66, his unreliable caps make it hard to judge the grading, and for all I see here, I wondered which caps were the newer ones because the 1.66 ones look extremely soft and not really an upgrade.

Blu-ray.com's review is up.
Svet's usual babbling aside (especially his bit about Hardcore and American Gigolo), it definitely looks weird to me, visually wise. Some of the caps don't look at all like a new 4K restoration, but with a thicker aspect more typical for older HD masters. And there is at least 1 cap with a worrying noise-y video-ish aspect.

Chris, when you get it, will you be able to state here what the element used for the restoration ? This doesn't look like the usual "artefacts" of using an IP or IN rather than the OCN either.

Yep, I'll relay the info when I get it.

I can't say about the ratio because it might something Schrader originally wanted but couldn't at the time, and is now using the opportunity. Why not.
But those caps, from a texture perspective...
As I regularly remind, it's actually quite possible to relatively accurately guess a restoration workflow (including solely from caps), but if I had to guess on this one, I'd say older HD master, not 4k restoration (even less so from OCN).

It looks somewhat degrained to me but clearly from a new restoration/master? And even moreso in comparison to the BFI which looks like your typical MGM old master.